Swimulacra

Okay, so the #SwimsuitIconChallenge is super charming.

The recreations are fun and inventive and often pretty hot.

I’m particularly entranced by this bevy of Elles.

The makeshift solutions are pretty creative, too, using aloe leaves for Petra …

… blowdryers for Christie …

… Sony Walkmans for Marisa …

… and fast food signage for Carol.

Carol herself even got into the act, recreating a fellow cover girl shot.

I think there must have been a starter group of pics that participants could choose from, because there are no fewer than three recreations of this Chandra North pic (complete with heels).

I’m quite familiar with this photo, obviously, but it doesn’t seem like one of the iconic SI shots that would be first on anyone’s mind.

• • •

Anyway, one of the pics that was recreated was this one:

…along with a nice story of the woman who created it.

So in celebration of Alli and Jessica, let’s have a pineapple-themed Fruit Friday.

Thumb-Hook Thursday: Barbara Palvin, 2017

Can't go wrong with Babs. I'll miss her when/if the 2020 issue comes out.

Chrissy Teigen Pulls Her Boobs Out

Like, literally. She’s getting her implants removed.

So let’s give them a fond send-off!

One-Piece Wednesday: Shakara Ledard, 2002

Topless Tuesday: Kelsey Merritt, 2019

Underboob Monday: Alyssa Miller, 2012

2012 was probably one of most overly airbrushed years in SI history, but it yielded some nice shots regardless. I'm glad they've toned it down a bit.

Yes, We Have Fake Bananas

Decorative plastic bananas make a lovely swimsuit accessory, whether up top:

Patricia Velasquez, 1995

...or down below:

Ariel Meredith, 2012

Thumb-Hook Thursday: Alyssa Miller, 2011

That's such a pretty suit, and Alyssa looks so lovely in it, I think we should gaze at another couple shots, regardless of thumb-placement.

One-Piece Wednesday: Ariel Meredith, 2013

Mammarial Day Weekend

Continuing SI Swim’s attempt to transition into a women’s fashion destination, they posted this to their Facebook page the other day.

It’s a bait and switch, partly because the photo doesn’t appear as part of the story it links to, and partly because they airbrushed the pic.

That Obsession pic itself is, I believe, from the wall calendar, whereas the pic from the actual magazine is harder to track down and far superior.

Getty was nice enough to keep their watermark out of the way on this one.

Anyway, I checked the calendar, and they’re right. Memorial Day is this weekend. Who knew? So let’s enjoy a Topless Tuesday with a splash of white. Here’s our long lost Kim Cloutier.

Underboob Monday: Kate Bock, 2014

Fruit Friday: Apples and Oranges

I already covered this shot of May Andersen and her highly suggestive orange.

So I’ll supplement it with this similarly positioned pic of Apples van Ravenstein, shot for the 1979 issue and popping up in Walter Iooss Jr.’s Heaven book.

(Here’s that fruit in situ.)

Thumb-Hook Thursday: Kelly Rohrbach, 2016

Rohrbach:

...and Rohrfront:

One-Piece Wednesday: Patricia Velasquez, 1995

This is a great shot from Heaven.